Soldier who blew up Tesla had PTSD and said US headed for ‘collapse,’ police say
Notes left by the Green Beret who blew up a Tesla Cybertruck outside the Trump International Hotel this week in Las Vegas suggested he had taken his own life as a “wake-up call” to the country, authorities said Friday.
A phone belonging to the soldier, Master Sgt. Matthew Alan Livelsberger, contained notes that said the country was “headed toward collapse,” police said in a news briefing Friday afternoon.
Livelsberger fatally shot himself inside the Tesla on Wednesday as the explosives packed into the vehicle ignited and engulfed it in flames. Police said Livelsberger, a veteran of several combat tours, had post-traumatic stress disorder.
“This was not a terrorist attack,” the notes said. “It was a wake-up call. Americans only pay attention to spectacles and violence. What better way to get my point across than a stunt with fireworks and explosives?”
Assistant Sheriff Dori Koren of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said at a news conference Friday that in the notes, Livelsberger went on to “explain a variety of other grievances and issues — some political, some personal.”
Livelsberger, 37, had been stationed in Germany and was back in the United States on leave.
“Why did I personally do it now? I needed to cleanse my mind of the brothers I’ve lost and relieve myself of the burden of the lives I took,” Livelsberger said in one of the notes, according to police.
The New Year’s Day explosion, which occurred hours after a terrorist attack in New Orleans, raised fears that the two incidents were connected and that the incident in Las Vegas might be linked to a terrorist group.
Spencer Evans, the special agent in charge of the Las Vegas field office of the FBI, said Friday that “we have not identified any connection between this subject and any other terrorist organization.”
He added that based on interviews with friends, relatives and military members with whom Livelsberger had served, he held no animosity toward President-elect Donald Trump.
“Although this incident is more public and more sensational than usual, it ultimately appears to be a tragic case of suicide involving a heavily decorated combat veteran who is struggling with PTSD and other issues,” Evans said.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
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